John Prine and Timeless Americana Style

Looking back on the folk icon on his 68th birthday

John Prine has always occupied a particular corner of Americana. He tells clear, small town stories that are simultaneously weighty and simple-minded. Mostly, he sticks right to the melodies. He's not Dylan, Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt, or Willie Nelson. And yet, he's a bit of all those things: soulful, reverent, hilbilly, literate. His self-titled debut in 1971 set the course for the rest of his career, though two bouts with cancer have completely changed his singing voice (it's hyper-gravelly now, though it still works in its own right).

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Prine turns 68 today, and while he sticks mostly to a uniform of black suits in his twilight years, he personified Americana cool throughout the 1970s. There he is, on the cover of possibly his best work, "Sweet Revenge," with gold-rimmed aviators, cowboy boots, and head-to-toe stonewash denim. When you see Prine on stage and when you hear the essence of his songs, you're getting an honest-to-god Midwesterner, and it's a masculine look we can get behind.